Reflexology and Maternity Therapies Kidderminster Call 07531 121199

Chronic back pain is a common problem often making everyday tasks and attending work difficult.

Mindfulness meditation is a self care technique that enables you to experience the moment rather than being consumed by thoughts of the past or worries about the future. The awareness and acceptance that develops promotes a calmer more resilient outlook. Mindfulness meditation can be included in your daily routines.

A recent study suggests that mindfulness meditation eases chronic back pain. The study involved 342 patients aged between 20 and 70 with chronic back pain. The subjects were divided into three groups receiving either mindfulness meditation, cognitive behavioural therapy or usual care for back pain such as analgesia. The results led the Group Health Research Institute to conclude that mindfulness gave meaningful improvement in patients' pain.

After six months 61 percent of the subjects who received mindfulness meditation showed a reduction in the limitations caused by their back pain. The researches who led the study believe that the mind and body are intertwined in the way they sense and respond to pain. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The research suggests that training the brain to respond differently to pain is more effective that pain relief medication.

Study leader Dr Daniel Cherkin stated:

‘We are excited about these results, because chronic low back pain is such a common problem and can be disabling and difficult to treat.’Greater understanding and acceptance of the mind-body connection will provide patients and clinicians with new opportunities for improving the lives of persons with chronic back pain and other challenging conditions that are not always effectively managed with physical treatments alone.’

There were also improvements in self-reported 'pain bothersomeness' with a 44 per cent improvement among the mindfulness meditation group and 45 per cent in the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy group compared to 27 per cent in the group who continued with their usual care. The improvements found in the mindfulness group persisted when the group was followed up a year later, researchers found.

Hypnobirthing training is available at Breathe Holistic Therapy. The full course is five hours training which is delivered on an individual (couple) basis.

As a qualified nurse I always look for evidence to support the therapies I provide including hypnotherapy for childbirth. There are many studies available that explore the use of hypnotherapy in pregnancy and childbirth. I have summarised some below.

Increased movement of the baby in the uterus: Fuchs et al. (1987) evaluated the influence of maternal hypnosis, they noted a significant increase in foetal activity as a result. This, they believed was due to a reduction in maternal anxiety and improvement in placental blood perfusion. Mothers who used hypnosis for anxiety and stress management had foetuses who moved in a much more active manner than a control group (Zimmer, Peretz, Eyal & Fuchs, 1988)

NICE guidelines: The National Institute of Clinical Excellence guidelines from April 2007, discussed the benefits of teaching relaxation and self help/coping strategies to pregnant women especially in reducing depression and anxiety for those who are vulnerable to suffering these mental health problems.

Treatment of preterm labour: Hypnosis combined with conventional drug therapy can significantly prolong the duration of pregnancies threatened by premature labour. Omer (1987) found that adding hypnosis to the treatment regimen prolonged pregnancies an average of 18.8% longer than patients treated with medication alone.

Hypnosis effects on turning foetuses from breech position: One hundred pregnant women whose foetuses were in breech position at 37-40 weeks’ gestation used hypnosis; and a matched control group did not . 81% of breech babies were successfully turned to a head down position in the hypnosis group compared with 48% in the control group. The success was thought to be down to psychophysiological factors which may influence the breech position. (Mehl, 1994)

Reduction in length of labour using hypnosis: Jenkins and Pritchard (1993) found a reduction of 3 hours for first time mothers (from 9.3 hours to 6.4 hours) and 1 hour for women on second or subsequent labours (from 6.2 hours to 5.3 hours) for active labour (262 subjects and 600 controls). Pushing was statistically shorter for first time mothers (from 50 min to 37 min). These women were more satisfied with labour and reported other benefits of hypnosis such as reduced anxiety and help with getting to sleep.

Abramson and Heron (1950) & Gallagher (2001) found a shorter first stage of labour for 100 women trained with hypnosis (by 3.23 hours) compared to a control group of 88 women.

Forty-five Hypnosis for Childbirth clients (first time mothers) had an average of 4.5 hours for the active labour, a significant reduction compared to the usual 9 hours. (Harmon, Hynan and Tyre, 1990)

Need for analgesia in child birth: In a British study, 55% of 45 patients (first and second time mothers) required no medication for pain relief after training in hypnobirthing. In the other non-hypnosis groups, only 22% of 90 women required no medication. Two other research pieces reported on 1,000 consecutive births: 850 women used hypnotic analgesia resulting in 58 percent rate of no medication. Five other research pieces reported an incidence of 60 to 79 percent non-medicated births using hypnotherapy. (Harmon, Hynan and Tyre, 1990)

An analysis using data from 14 studies that included more than 1,400 women showed that hypnosis reduces the need for drug pain relief in labour, lessens the need for medications that augment labour and increases the number of spontaneous vaginal births (Smith et al., 2006)

Rates of Intervention: Thirty-eight out of forty-five Hypnosis for Childbirth mums, delivered spontaneously without the use of caesarean, forceps or venteuse. This rate of 84% is higher than the average rate of normal birth for the general population of first time mothers (Harmon, Hynan & Tyre, 1990)

Postnatal depression: McCarthy (1998) provided five 30-minute sessions of hypnosis to 600 women and found a virtual absence of postpartum depression, compared to the typical rates of 10 to 15 percent. Women with a history of postnatal depression did not develop this condition in the hypnosis group. Harmon et al (1990) reported a reduced incidence of postnatal depression in women who had been taught hypnosis for child birth.

Lactation: There are many studies documenting how hypnosis can be used to promote and to suppress lactation (August, 1961; Cheek & LeCron, 1968; Kroger 1977)

Breathe Holistic Therapy advises every client to seek medical advise if they are concerned about their physical or emotional health.

DisclaimerPlease note that Breathe Holistic Therapy can not guarantee the effectiveness of treatment in any individual cases. There is, of course, a considerable variation in the difficulty of the various problems and there is no general rule which makes it possible to say how much improvement can be achieved and in how much time. I am committed to helping you as swiftly and effectively as possible.I may well be able to give you a fair assessment of how much improvement you can expect and how many sessions may be needed by the end of the initial consultation but if the problem is more complex then we will jointly review progress from time to time.

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